Prepare For Disaster (And Minimize Downtime)

Disasters come in many sizes and shapes and are often unexpected, which is why manufacturers must prepare for them, treating disaster recovery plans almost as an insurance policy. And they do happen, often at the most inconvenient times. By one count, their numbers have climbed 233 percent since 1980.

Any number of events, though, can risk a manufacturer’s business continuity, including data corruption, system failure, loss of a datacenter or facility and human error. Here are several things manufacturers can do on the disaster preparedness front that can keep downtime to a minimum should the unexpected occur:

Lesson 1: Learn from Hurricane Sandy, the Japanese tsunami and other recent catastrophes and better prepare for your own potential emergency situations.

Too often, the attitudes of manufacturing and IT leaders are all too familiar. “We don’t have the time to worry about that.” Or, “We don’t have the budget right now to devote to something that might never happen.” Or, “We won’t suffer that much if we’re down two, four or eight hours or even longer.”